The University needs expanded research facilities and that the state should contribute $25 million to this effort to move the University's medical school into the top 15 or 20 in the nation, Dean of the Medical School Dr. Robert M. Carey said.
"We need this building because of the tremendous opportunity to expand our medical science program at a time when funding is available through the National Institutes of Health," Carey said. "The promise of breakthroughs in diagnosis of disease and treatment has never been better - with the development of the human genome project and other breakthroughs."
The U.S. News & World Report rankings place the University 30th among research-oriented schools, and Carey said that the University Medical School is hurting from the small quantity of research space.
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"We can't hire any new scientists in the existing space, which is a compelling reason" for more funding, Carey said. "Medical school rank depends on the volume of research conducted."
Dr. Thomas J. Braciale, director of the Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research, said the lack of space prevents the Medical School from hiring either "young new scientists who are just starting out in exciting fields or established scientists in exciting areas."
The proposed new building is nicknamed Medical Research (MR)-6, and will cost about $50 million to build, Carey said. $25 million of the cost will come from private funds, which Carey said already are beginning to be raised, and he said he hopes the state will put up the other $25 million.
Braciale said MR-6 would house researchers in infectious disease, vaccination, immunology and cancer research.
"The School of Medicine doesn't have the funds" to pay for such an undertaking, Carey said.
Braciale said another reason MR-6 is necessary is to bring researchers in related fields physically closer together in their working environments.
"This will bring together scientists who have common interests in a contiguous space, in the same building," Braciale said. "For example, immunology researchers are scattered in several buildings and bringing them together will be a stimulus to collaboration."
Braciale added that some of the current research facilities include MR-5, which is currently being built and will house biomedical research.
Carey said about one-third of the existing research space is "less than adequate," lacking necessary equipment.
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